Teaching skills for life as an economist

1. Teaching skills for life as an economist CALT Conference Dr Cloda Jenkins*, Senior Teaching Fellow, UCL April 19th 2013 *All ideas presented here are my own and the views should not be considered to represent those of the UCL Economics Department or of any previous employers.

2. What skills does an economist need? How build skills into syllabus? Lessons learned Next steps ✔

3. Skills for what type of economist? • Generic skills that don’t presume particular career path. • Work for academic jobs and wide range of professional jobs. • More than getting hired – being effective in the job. • Include what needed to do graduate study.

4. What are employers concerned they are not getting? Evidence from survey of employers by Economics Network, my own small sample survey of mix of employers, discussions with colleagues and my own experience Take as given that UCL graduates are expert economists • Understand fundamental principles and know when and how to use them • Able to analyse, interpret and interrogate data (‘hands on’) • Communication of ideas in way that is relevant for audience • Able to put ideas into context and to apply theory to real world • Proactive and ‘can do’ attitude • Enthusiastic about and driven by genuine interest in economics

5. What makes a great economist?

6. What skills does an economist need? How build skills into syllabus? Lessons learned Next steps ✔ ✔

7. Case study: Economics of Regulation (Econ 7006) • 50 students – 9 affiliates (mix of 2nd and 3rd years) • 10 X 2 hour lectures • 5 X 1 hour tutorials • 3 X ‘problem sets’ • 1 group presentation • Focus on learning by doing (implicit skills development) • Small step on path of skill development (first step for many students)

8. What did I do?

9. What did I do?

10. What skills does an economist need? How build skills into syllabus? Lessons learned Next steps ✔ ✔ ✔

11. Small things can make a difference • A little extra thought on how to get an idea across can make big difference. • Don’t be afraid to try something out. Provide ‘safe’ environment for students to work outside their comfort zone too. • Not always about ‘whizzy’ teaching methods – back to basics has role to play too. • Make it interesting and relevant – then they remember. With ‘learning by doing’ feedback is crucial – otherwise just ‘doing’ Challenge them to distinguish ‘good performance’ from ‘poor performance’

12. What skills does an economist need? How build skills into syllabus? Lessons learned Next steps ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

13. Embedding skills more widely • Similar approach adopted in my own new term 2 course on Economics of Money and Banking. • Working cross-department on employability as part of wider curriculum review. • Economics Network research project on student expectations highlighting importance of ‘skills for jobs’ to students.

14. Developing my own skills • Finding out about ‘whizzy’ ways to do things • Pushing boundaries of space and time constraints • Understanding how to develop (‘open up’) mindset of students and colleagues in economics department Work on ‘practice what I preach’ in my lectures and tutorials for 2013/14

16. What does an economist need to be able to do well?

17. What does an economist need to be able to do well?